UEFA Nations

2022-06-05 - Serbia vs Slovenia

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Serbia v Slovenia
Football: UEFA Nations League League B
Sunday 5th June 2022 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV

Serbia

There has to be a whole host of Serbian fans left scratching their head from year after year watching the national team perform. This year there is excitement as Serbia have Qualified for the World Cup for the third time in four attempts, but the expanded European Championships Finals have proved to be elusive when you would think it would work out the other way around.

They are still playing in League B of the Nations League too despite being one of thirteen European teams that are going to be playing at the World Cup in November. In reality, Serbia were fortunate not to be relegated into League C in the last running of the Nations League and they are going to have to be much improved to avoid that this time around after losing to Norway in their opening Group game.

Serbia will be looking to bounce back immediately despite that home loss which means they have lost back to back fixtures since putting together a 5 game winning run that saw them finish above Portugal in the last World Cup Qualifying Group. They had won 3 in a row at home, but it has been a struggle in the Nations League and Serbia have won 1 of their last 4 at home in this competition.

Slovenia

The format of the Nations League has given teams a chance to earn Play Off spots for European Championships/World Cups before the Qualifiers are played, but that means nations are trying to strike a balance as to which League they wish to be involved in. Group Winners are put in Play Off spots so those further down the Nations Rankings may feel that playing in the lower Leagues is beneficial for as long as possible.

It is difficult and Slovenia found that out in the last running of the Nations League- they won their Group in League C, but missed out on a World Cup Play Off spot by two places. Now they are up in League B, Slovenia are going to find the opponents much tougher and even the expanded European Championships Finals could prove beyond them.

Slovenia finished above Greece, Kosovo and Moldova in their last Nations League Group, but suffered a 0-2 home loss to Sweden in their opening League B fixture. It is a result which means Slovenia have won 1 of their last 7 games in all competitions. Slovenia have struggled in recent Qualifiers, especially away from home where they have suffered 6 losses in 9 away Qualifiers played.

Head to Head

These nations were in the same Qualifying Group for Euro 2012 and it was Slovenia who came away with four points.

The fixture played in Serbia ended 1-1.

Prediction

Finishing in the top eight spots in League B is important for nations as they look to ensure they are placed in a decent Qualifying Group when the Euro 2024 draw is made later this year.

Both of these nations are off to losing starts and will be looking to bounce back, but the edge is with Serbia who are at home against a Slovenia team that have struggled when stepping up their level of opponent.

Slovenia showed that in a 0-2 defeat to Sweden, although Serbia were beaten at home by Norway.

Even then, Serbia should be the stronger team and I think they will likely have the goals to secure the victory by a comfortable margin when it is all said and done.

The Statistics :

SERBIA LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2022-06-02	L	0-1	H v Norway
	2021-10-12	W	3-1	H v Azerbaijan
	2021-09-04	W	4-1	H v Luxembourg
	2021-03-27	D	2-2	H v Portugal
	2021-03-24	W	3-2	H v Ireland
	2020-11-18	W	5-0	H v Russia

SLOVENIA LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2021-11-11	D	2-2	A v Slovakia
	2021-10-08	W	0-4	A v Malta
	2021-09-07	L	3-0	A v Croatia
	2021-03-30	L	1-0	A v Cyprus
	2021-03-27	L	2-1	A v Russia
	2020-11-18	D	0-0	A v Greece